Dolan will serve community well
Throughout the 6th Legislative District, signs for Democrat Laurie Dolan frequently show up in the same yards with Bush-Cheney signs. Dolan, running for the state Senate, is seen as so mainstream that even moderate Republicans feel comfortable supporting her. And several, including retired GOP state Sen. Jerry Saling, have done just that.
The retired school administrator gets our recommendation for the seat Spokane Mayor Jim West held for 17 years. Dolan knows her district and the community and not just because of her education career. She was president of downtown Spokane Rotary and was a prime mover behind the West Central Neighborhood Education Team.
She walks as comfortably among the power brokers as she does among those struggling in our neighborhoods. This is an important asset in a district known for its socioeconomic diversity. And its geographic diversity (it stretches around the north, west and southern edges of Spokane’s core).
Dolan has some solid ideas for creating jobs that will shrink the gap between the haves and have-nots. She sees the untapped potential at Spokane International Airport, for instance. And she hopes to match business needs with educational courses. Spokane recently landed a sleep-research center. Dolan predicts that as the center grows, it will need more workers with technical skills who could be trained in community college courses tailored for the center’s needs.
Dolan is a team player who believes most issues can be resolved by getting everyone to the table. She’ll likely discover that things aren’t that simple in the Legislature, but we have every confidence she’ll learn her way through this reality, too.
Her opponent, Republican Brad Benson, served four terms in the state House of Representatives. He’s to be commended for running a campaign so positive it stood out in this most negative of election seasons. But his ultra-conservative views, especially on public education, don’t make him the best fit for the district or the larger community.
There are two House races in the 6th District as well. For Position 1, we recommend Republican John Serben, an insurance agent who worked on the successful 2003 Mead School District levy. His opponent, Democrat Don Barlow, was unable to articulate specifics about the issues he’d face as a first-term legislator nor about his accomplishments as a Spokane School District board member. Serben is politically naïve and will definitely need to grow on the job, but at age 36 he has the potential to do so.
For Position 2, we recommend Democrat Doug Dobbins over incumbent Republican John Ahern, a nice man who unfortunately hasn’t distinguish himself during his two House of Representative terms. Dobbins, who grew up in a low-income Spokane neighborhood, worked for Microsoft but moved back to Spokane to get involved in the community. He’s green and untested, but he’s bright, and his knowledge of West Side economics and Eastern Washington poverty issues convince us that Dobbins can become an effective legislator.